How to pray the Sunnah prayer?.

 How to pray the Sunnah prayer?.

    

 The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (PBUH), commanded the believers to perform some of the voluntary and Sunnah prayers in their homes, as Ibn Umar narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Offer some of your prayers at home, and Do not take your houses as graves" (Sahih Albukhari 432). And as narrated by Zaid bin Thabit: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) made an apartment with the help of the leaves of date trees or of mats, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) went out to pray in it, people followed Him and came to pray with Him, then they came again one night and waited, but the Messenger of Allah delayed incoming out, they cried aloud and threw pebbles at the door, the Messenger of Allah came out in anger and said to them By what you have been constantly doing, I was inclined to think that it might not become obligatory for you, so you must observe prayer in your houses, for the prayer observed by a man in the house is better except the obligatory prayer" (Sahih Muslim 781).

 So there is a great merit and reward in performing voluntary prayer at home because it is far from hypocrisy and it is closer to sincerity, in addition to that, blessings and mercy descend upon the home, and the Angels descend while Satan is kept away by it. Sunnah or supererogatory prayers are extra rak'ahs before or after the obligatory prayers (Fard), or independent prayers performed at different times such as: Qiyam prayer, Tahajjud prayer, and Duha prayer.

 Regarding the Sunnah prayers that are connected to the obligatory prayers, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used to perform them at home, as Abdullah bin Shaqiq reported: "I asked Aisha about the voluntary prayer of Allah's Messenger (PBUH), and she replied before Dhuhr prayer (Noon), He used to pray four Rak'ahs in my house, then He would go out and lead the people in prayer, then come in and pray two Rak'ahs, He would then lead the people in the Maghrib prayer (Sunset), then come in and pray two Rak'ahs, then He would lead the people in the Ishaa prayer (Evening), and enter my house and pray two Rak'ahs, He would pray nine Rak'ahs during the night, including Witr. At night He would pray for a long time standing and for a long time sitting, and when He recited the Holy Quran while standing, He would bow and prostrate Himself from the standing position, and when He recited while sitting, He would bow and prostrate Himself from the sitting position, and when it was Fajr (Dawn), He would pray two Rak'ahs" (Sahih Muslim 730).

 As for the night prayer, it is a voluntary prayer performed between Ishaa and Fajr prayers, it is called Qiyam prayer if one prays it before sleeping, but if he sleeps and wakes up to pray, it is called Tahajjud prayer according to many scholars. The night prayer is one of the most virtuous acts of worship and one of the best ways to draw closer to Allah, as Allah says in Aya (79) of Surat Alisraa {And from the night, Pray with it as additional for You, it is expected that Your Lord will resurrect You to a praised station}, and as narrated by Abu Hurayrah: "The Messenger of Allah was asked as to which prayer was most excellent after the prescribed prayer, and which fast was most excellent after the month of Ramadan, He said the most excellent prayer after the obligatory prayer is prayer during the night, and the most excellent fast after Ramadan is Allah's month Almuharram" (Sahih Muslim 1163). 

The night prayer of Allah's Messenger (PBUH) varied in length and numbers of Rak'ahs according to different times and circumstances, He (PBUH) prayed seven, nine, or eleven Rak'ahs, but never more than eleven, neither in Ramadan nor at any other time, and the narrations that mention thirteen Rak'ahs include the two Sunnah Rak'ahs before Fajr (Dawn prayer), as Masruq reported: I asked Aisha about the night prayer of Allah's Messenger (PBUH) and she said it was seven, nine, or eleven Rak'ahs besides the two Rak'ahs of Fajr prayer i.e. Sunnah" (Sahih Albukhari 1139).

 And as narrated by Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman that he asked Aisha about the night prayer of the Messenger of Allah during the month of Ramadan, she said: "The Messenger of Allah did not observe either in Ramadan or in other months more than eleven Rak'ahs, He (PBUH) observed four Rak'ahs, Ask not about their excellence and their length, He again observed four Rak'ahs and Ask not about their excellence and their length, He would then observe three Rak'ahs, Aisha said, I asked O Messenger of Allah! Do you sleep before observing the Witr payer?, He said O Aisha! My eyes sleep but My heart does not sleep" (Sahih Muslim 738 a). And as narrated by Aisha: "The prayer of Allah's Messenger (PBUH) in the night consisted of ten Rak'ahs, and He observed a Witr and two Rak'ahs of Sunnah of Fajr, and thus the total comes to thirteen Rak'ahs" (Sahih Muslim 738 e).

 It is Sunnah to pray the night prayer in two Rak'ahs followed by the Taslim, then two more Rak'ahs followed by the Taslim, and so on, then the prayer is concluded before Fajr with one Rak'ah, which is Witr, as Nafi' reported that Ibn Umar said: "While the Prophet (PBUH) was on the pulpit, a man asked Him how to offer the night prayer, He (PBUH) replied Pray two Rak'ahs at a time, and then two, and so on, and if one fears the approach of Fajr, Pray one Rak'ahs, and that will be the Witr of all the Rak'ahs which he has offered, Ibn Umar added, the last Rak'ah of the night prayer should be Witr (Odd), for the Prophet (PBUH) ordered it to be so" (Sahih Albukhari 472).

 And as for Duha prayer is a confirmed Sunnah, and the Prophet (PBUH) recommended His companions to perform it regularly, as Abu Hurayrah reported: "My Friend i.e. the Prophet (PBUH) advised me to observe three things: to fast three days a month, to pray two Rak'ahs of Duha prayer, and to pray Witr before sleeping" (Sahih Albukhari 1981), and Abu Dharr narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "In the morning, charity is due from every bone in the body of every one of you. Every utterance of Allah's Glorification (Subhaba Allah: Glory to be Allah) is an act of charity, every utterance of Praise (Alhamdu lellah: Praise be to Allah) is an act of charity, every utterance of His Oneness (La ilaha ella Allah: there is no god but Allah) is an act of charity, and every utterance of His Greatness (Allahu Akbar: Allah is the Greatest) is an act of charity, enjoining the right is an act of charity and forbidding from the wrong is an act of charity, and two Rak'ahs which one prays in the Forenoon (Duha prayer) will suffice all of that" (Sahih Muslim 720).

 So according to this Hadith, the minimum number of Rak'ahs of Duha prayer is two, and the maximum is eight, as Umm Hani' bint Abi Talib reported that when it was the day of conquest of Mecca, she went to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), and He was staying at a higher part, the Messenger of Allah got up for His bath, and Fatima held a curtain around Him, He then put on His garments and wrapped Himself with that and then offered eight Rak'ahs of the Forenoon prayer" (Sahih Muslim 336 b). The time of Duha prayer begins a quarter of an hour or more after the time of sunrise and continues until fifteen minutes before Dhuhr prayer.